Golfers, like athletes in other sports, need to practice in order to improve. Many games, such as soccer, require that an athlete have only a ball and optionally a proper pair of shoes to do some practice. Other games, such as basketball or tennis, require that a user go to another location to practice. Many of these locations are available free to the general public at parks. However, many sports require the use of space that must be rented, often at a high cost, in order to practice. Among these sports is golf.
If an athlete wishes to practice a golf shot, he or she must typically go to a driving range and pay $4-15 for a bucket of balls to hit. The athlete invests time and money also in travel to and from the driving range.
One possible alternative to this investment is to practice in the athlete's back yard. However, in most cases, practicing in one's own back yard is infeasible for golf. Striking a golf ball often propels the ball 100 yards or more, which is significantly longer than most back yards. The golf balls struck must also be retrieved, which can be time consuming or very difficult.
In the past, there have been some solutions proposed. In some instances, athletes use a ball that is a plastic shell with holes drilled there-through. These balls are effective in reducing the flight of the ball because of their weight and the increase in wind resistance. However, their appearance and weight affects the golfer's swing as well, leading to a less than desirable feel when the ball is struck.
Other solutions have involved tethering the ball. This prevents the loss of the ball, but it requires retrieval and replacement of the ball after each shot. In addition, the use of the tether affects the appearance and weight of the ball as well and therefore is less than desirable.
What would be helpful to the standard golfer is a ball that can be used in a greater variety of circumstances. It would be helpful if a ball were designed to minimize the weight and appearance changes while improving the ability to retrieve the balls and minimizing the distance traveled by any individual ball. Various designs can achieve these purposes in varying degrees and in varying combinations.